Each country has some symbols known as National Symbols. Our country has also some National symbols. These are our National Flag, National Anthem, National Song, National Bird, National Animal and National Flower. The people of the country must know these symbols and be proud of them.
Tri-colour or Tiranga is the National Flag of India. It flies over important Government buildings and on the top of Indian embassies all over the world. Whenever our players or sportsmen get top position in the Olympics or the Asian Games, our National Flag is hoisted and our National Anthem is sung.- We feel proud of it. The length and breadth of our National Flag is in the ratio of 3 : 2. It has three colors. There is a band of deep saffron color on the top, a white band in the middle and a deep green band at the lower portion of our National Flag. All the three bands are equal in breadth. There is a wheel or chakro in the middle of the white band. This chakra has 24 spokes and is taken from the Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath.
Each colour has a special meaning. Saffron stands for courage and sacrifice. White stands for. truth and peace. Green color stands for the prosperity. The wheel stands for progress of the country. Our National Flag was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India on 22nd July 1947 and was presented to the Nation at midnight on 14th August 1947 when India got freedom.
Tri-colour was earlier used by our freedom fighters and the Indian National Congress in the freedom struggle, but it was a bit different flag. It had a spinning wheel or charkha in the middle instead of the Ashoka Chakra,
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There are certain practices for the use of the National Flag, which must be observed :
1. Our National Flag is hoisted on all important Government buildings. The people can hoist the National Flag on their house tops only on National festivals as the Independence Day or the Republic Day.
2. When the National Flag is hoisted, the saffron band should be on the top and the green band should be at the lower side.
3. When some other flags are to be hoisted along with the National Flag, these should be on the left side of the Flag. The National Flag should fly higher and there should be no flag to its right.
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4. The National Flag should always be taken down at sunset.
Every country has a patriotic song known as its National Anthem. It is sung by the people of the country in one voice on all important occasions. National Anthem is very sacred to the people of its country. Whenever the National Anthem of a country is sung or it is being played, the people of the country show respect by standing up in attention position.
Our National Anthem was composed by the famous poet Rabindra Nath Tagore. The original song consisted of five stanzas. Only the first stanza of this song was adopted by our National Constituent Assembly as National Anthem of free India. Our National Anthem is played on all National functions. It takes 52 seconds to 54 seconds to sing our National Anthem. Our National Anthem is sung at the time of morning assembly in almost all the schools. We should learn it by heart and sing it to the proper tune. It reads as follows:
Janaganamanaadhinayaka Jaya he.
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Bharata-bhagya vidhata
Punjab-Sindu-Gujarata-Maratha-
Dravida-Utkala-Banga ;
Vindhya-Himachal-Yamuna-Ganga
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Uchhala-jaladhi-taranga,
Tava subha name jage,
Taba subha asisha mage
Gahe tava Yaya-gathan,
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Jna-gana-mangala-dayaka, Jaya he,
Bharata-bhagya-vidhata,
Jaya he, Jaya he, Jaya he,
Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya he.
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Our National Anthem is in Bangla Bhasha. Its writer Rabindra Nath Tagore has translated it into English which reads as follows:
“Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people and dispenser of India’s destiny. Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind, Gujarat, Maratha, Dravida, Orissa and Bengal. It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas mingles in the music of Yamuna and Ganga and is chanted by the waves of the Indian sea. They pray for the blessings and sing thy praise. Thou dispenser of India’s destiny, victory, victory, victory to Thee.”